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Western investing millions to secure region’s local, reliable water supply

Sterling Pump Station latest in string of projects underway to “Connect the Drops”

RIVERSIDE – Western Municipal Water District is investing $75 million in infrastructure projects over the next five years to deliver a local and reliable water supply to their service area.

As part of this investment, construction recently started on the Sterling Pump Station, an 18-month long project located at the end of Sterling Avenue in the Riverside Business Park. The pump station will connect with the La Sierra Pipeline, the five-mile pipeline project also under construction along La Sierra Avenue, to move high-quality, locally sourced drinking water throughout Western’s service area.

“With multiple large infrastructure projects underway and more planned, Western’s aim is to reduce dependency on imported water to under 50 percent,” explained Western Municipal Water District General Manager Craig Miller. “These projects will also have the capacity to provide additional local water in case of emergencies, and will increase water reliability in the event of a temporary outage of imported water supplies.”

During construction, Sterling Avenue will remain open and access to businesses and parking lots will be maintained. Construction hours are weekdays, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The construction hotline, 951.269.2339, provides updated project information and the opportunity for anyone with concerns to leave a voicemail.

Other projects recently completed include expansions at the Chino and Arlington desalters, which extract local groundwater and use reverse osmosis to purify it into clean drinking water. These expansions have increased the amount of groundwater that Western can purify for local use. Once the La Sierra Pipeline and Sterling Pump Station are completed, the increased water supply will move through them to the La Sierra Reservoir, and then be delivered to Western customers.

Western delivers around 28 billion gallons of safe, reliable drinking water to customers each year, and the majority of that water is currently imported from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta in Northern California and the Colorado River. Imported water that travels 200 to 400 miles to reach end-users is more costly and less reliable than locally sourced water.

“The Sterling Pump Station along with the Arlington and Chino desalters and the La Sierra Pipeline project reflect Western’s mission to become more self-sufficient, reduce dependence on imported water by securing local water supplies and meet the current and future water needs of our community and hold down the cost of water rates,” added Miller.

For more information about the project please visit www.wmwd.com and search Sterling Pump Station.

Western Municipal Water District provides water supply, wastewater disposal and water resource management to the public in a safe, reliable, environmentally sensitive andfinancially responsible manner.